This is a fascinating and amazingly interesting beer. It's not an appealing beer to behold, being a little cloudy and full of floaties. The head is a soda-pop fizz that fades as quickly as it forms. The aroma, however, is complex and intriguing. Sour-smelling, lactic, horse-sweat, funk, grass, and straw. It's not as appealing as a lambic's smell, but it is interesting, and will surely keep your nose engaged. The taste is not really sour..but very well balanced. More funk, and a very appealing crispness. It would be quite refreshing on a hot summer day (too bad I'm drinking it on a cold winter night). Light body, with a relatively low carbonation. Great smoothness and texture...I love the mouthfeel. All in all, this is not a beer that I'd go out of my way to drink, but it's a wonderful experience. Hail the funk!

It's taken a long time to review, but I've really been studying this style deeply to understand it as my first try so I could properly review it.

This is an extremely pale yellow, just a bit deeper than a good Kolsch but lighter than most macros in color. I expect this for the style. It's also extremely cloudy, as expected. The head doesn't last particularly long but what light, fluffy crown does sit on top doesn't dissipate all that quickly, either. A light touch of thick, white lacing is left in strands. The aroma is tart and lightly citric, much like a good white white, with a strong note of earthy mustiness to it. There's also a dry malts adding a touch of breads and some wheat underlying. This is nearly perfect or the style and surprisingly potent.The aroma follows suit, and the strong tart, sour flavors lead the way as they ought to. This beer is reminiscent of the green apple flavors of white wine with wheat and plenty of crackery malts underneath. This one is earthy without getting the grassy / herbal quality of a pils, and hops presence is appropriately light.With a surprisingly rich mouthfeel proving that light-bodied and weak are not synonymous, this one goes down very nicely, particularly given the crispness that's in every sip.This is spectacularly drinkable, and anyone looking for light, tart and gently sour and for a pinnacle of this style should reach for this one. Of course, I haven't tried any other Berliner Weissbiers, but I imagine this beer will be extremely difficult to match.

Pours a very turbid pale marigold colour, with large carbonation bubbles skulking up to the top. Head is white and foamy, pretty humble but decent retention for the bubble size. Lace is not really there. Looks quite nice.

Smell is fairly funkadelic. Tart and crisp with a lot of acid, giving me Granny Smith apples, cranberries and citrus, all contained within a nice spice jar with cinnamon, ginger and a marmalade sweetness hanging at the back. Nice complexity, crispness, balance. It's ticking many of my boxes.

Taste is interestingly tart. Very fruity with a large melon component that starts early and gets far more pronounced towards the back. Not actually as much acid as I anticipated; the texture puckers slightly but doesn't take hold like other Berliner Weißes I've had. Slight tart berry component late-mid and a strong vinous character on the back is helped by the dry texture. Mostly sour towards the finish but it doesn't linger, and leaves you nicely refreshed, like a very strong lemon squash.

Could use a touch more flavour on the front and perhaps more of a flourish on the finish. It's quite enjoyable as it is, however.

Pours a very light, pale straw yellow color. Tons and tons of carbonation jets up from the nucleation. Lots of foamy white bubbles form at first but soon disappear. This beer basically looks just like an adjunct lager. Only with hella yeast sediment. Floaties everywhere! Weird, alien life form floaties! I think these floaties might be the Arsenic microbes that NASA found. So yeah, it doesn't look pretty. And I don't have any woodruff syrup to gussy things up. For the style? I have to imagine that this is spot-on. Some beers just can't be pretty.

1809 smells, in part, like a typical wheat beer. You've got some zippy tang, some banana ester. But what dominates is the tartness. This is not a funky beer, no. This is a tart beer. Lemon juice everywhere. There's other stuff too: some carbonate smells, something almost milky. But that tart lemon is what stays with you.

The beer smells way more tart than it actually tastes. There is just enough sharp lemon juice sourness to encourage further drinking. You've got wheat bread flavors everywhere, some lactose like flavors, a bit of water (yeah, it gets watery around the middle of the drink - to the point where I thought I had lemon water in my mouth). This is very good. Light, tart, refreshing.

The mouthfeel has a flaw - that watery business that I just mentioned. Other than that, the carbonation is wonderfully lively and the body as thin as could be. The drinkability? Off the charts. This is one of the most drinkable beers I've ever had. Lightly tart, the beer just commands continued quaffing. Amazing.

How is this style of beer not more popular? It's great great great. This particular beer needs to be in six-packs as soon as years ago. It's awesome.

Purchased from K&L Wine Merchants in Redwood City (great location, by the way - check it out). It seemed interesting enough to bring back to Australia and share; when I purchased it I was unaware it was the top rated Berliner Weisse here, but now I'm glad I bought it.

Pours a cloudy and turbid, very pale golden colour, with a huge soapy and sudsy head of white foam that burgeons up and the cascades down in a very vibrant display. Hard to see much carbonation through the haze, but I imagine it's pretty effervescent. Looks pretty great, what I want a Berliner Weisse to look like.

Nose is pungently sour, with a big carbonic acidity throughout, that is just highlighted and accentuated with a lilting uplift of zesty lemon rind on the back, and sweetened with the promise of confectionery sugar. Dusty and a little refined, it's a more complex and complete aroma than I've yet had from any other beer in the style.

Taste is pleasantly sour, but not puckering, and again lilts nicely with a touch of citric zest. A little sweetness is present throughout, and the body is extremely light and effervescent without getting too gassy or bubbly. Slightly yeasty grit on the back, which detracts a little from the pure refreshment, but the delicate backbone of the beer more than makes up for it.

A lovely, refreshing and very light beer. It's the sec champagne of the beer world. Very easy to imbibe, and incredible delicate, but with a lilt and depth of character that is surprising in a beer designed so much from a refreshment point of view. Lovely.

Pour a lemony, yellow color that was topped off with a white fluffy head that dissipated rather slowly. Very cloudy and full of yeast. Nice citrusy aroma. Citrusly, clean, crisp taste. I could drink a lot of these on a hot summer day as drinkability is extremely high.

A - straw golden, almost urinish. Fizzy bit of head that dissipates quickly. Not a lot to keep it up. a little bit of yeast at the bottom.

S - the wheaty, light hoppy notes of a hefeweizen, but with a sourness...wtf is this stuff...I did not know what a Berliner Weiss was before I got this

T - hmm, crispy fresh wheat beer flavor in the front, then unexpectedly, a sourness appears! This is pretty interesting and quite delicious. a very dry finish. dont know if it's all lactic acid, but there seems to be some citrus in the front as well. very interesting.

M - effervescent

D - good...good...if this came in cans I'm sure I would be toting it everywhere. Hard to find but this is a relatively rare style (only 7 beers listed on BA) with a great contrasting flavor profile. Big fan - get it if you see it and see what this style is all about.

A: The beer appears crystal clear and yellow in color. The head vanishes within seconds, leaving no lace. This is a top-notch appearance for a Berliner Weissbier, and much different than the draft version, in my experience.

S: The aroma is of funky yeast and bananas. The aroma has some Belgian lambic type scents, which I find very appealing.

T: The beer is funky and sour, but not to the point of puckering, at least for me. Banana flavors play a prominent role, but not to the same extent as in a hefeweizen. 1809 is tart, funky, refreshing, and low in alcohol. This is a thoroughly enjoyable beverage, and again, I enjoyed this much more from the bottle versus the draft.

50cl bottle poured into a long, thin glass. Small, fizzy bubbles abound. Kind of subdued, slightly sour aroma with an impression of peaches. More sour peaches in the flavor, very dry and tart. Highly carbonated and dry, perfect mouthfeel for this style. Highly refreshing and very good. Edit: This has improved after 6+ months. Really a softer a better mouthfeel, and more richness in the flavor.

Pours a very light apricot color with a thin white head and not much lacig. Nose brings a bit of tart wheat and some very mild acid. Hints of peach. The taste is a bit more expansive, with peach, grean apple, and a bit of grass coming in as well. Light mouthfeel with good carbonation. Nice and mellow throughout, this drinks really well.

The look is instantly recognizable. Big, puffy white head, bountiful sediment and a hazy, lemony yellow color attract the senses immediately. A wild carbonation surges, forcing the sediment to dance throughout the liquid. Truly a sight to behold.

Aroma is just as enchanting, boasting the tartest of lemon juices, mild whiffs of banana and a slight milkiness.

Flavor is just as lemony, with a creamy consistency that's most likely due to the lacto bacteria and the lightest hints of orange and pineapple. The mild musk in the conclusion nicely balances out the tart bite, making for a light and Summery treat.

Modesty be damned... This just might be the most drinkable beer on the planet and, as the warm weather starts to seem like a distant memory, it's nice to drink this and remember all of those sunny Saturday afternoons.

Note: I've also tried this on several occasions with the Raspberry and Woodruff syrups, and, while those are interesting additions, believe this beer is best served straight up.

A - Pours with a decent sized head of loose, white foam that settles rapidly and leaves no lace. The body is a slightly hazy, deep gold color.

S - Light malt and wheat with a yeasty intensity and some spicy lactic acid.

T - Tangy wheat and some sweet, bready malt up front with a surprisingly light note of lactic acid. The malt intensifies in the middle with notes of honey and some fruity pear character that may or may not be yeast derived. The beer finishes with more malt and some creamy wheat flavor as well as moderate tartness and some lemon zest.

M - Medium body, very high carbonation, and a dry finish.

D - This is a shockingly drinkable beer. I expected intense sourness that would overshadow all other flavors, but the acidity is actually quite restrained and while the flavor profile is simple, it is very well managed. The intense carbonation helps to bring out the subtle flavor of the wheat and some notes of lemon and pear. The acidity is restrained and just strong enough to set off the other flavors and it makes for a perfectly refreshing, tart finish. I am really blow away by this beer, it is easily the best Berliner Weisse that I have ever tasted and it is definitely worth seeking out.

a particularly high abv berliner. Although only five percent. This is a robust tart. And the creamy quality of the lactic acid smears the sour with the malt like butter on beer. The wheat is the backbone to a pretty consistant sour grit and mild apple. Very one dimensional for people that aren't fans of sours. Granny smith apples with a wheat grit that has a bitter of fresh dandelion greens. One of the best found in north america.

Super pale yellow with thin white head that falls quickly. Nose is huge compared to the appearance: white smoke, rocks and gravel, and some barnyard funk. Palate is crisp and dominated by pear notes (like peary). Tart and earthy. Not a lot of wheat character. Very clear and clean finish.

Served in a 500 ml weizen glass. Glass of cold water on the side to sip from periodically.

Appearance: As served the beer is a well hazed bright golden straw yellow color with a thin head that dissipates rapidly (as expected with a Berliner Weisse) leaving only a small patch of foam and a small ring of foam.

Smell: The aroma is fresh, clean and slightly fruity.

Taste: The flavor is fresh, clean, slightly sweet, slightly fruity and slightly tart and very refreshing on a humid day. The malt and wheat backbone provides its own blend of flavor components that remain in the background but support the tart fruitiness very well. (This is a subtly flavored and balanced beer.)

Mouthfeel: The mouth feel is light bodied and crisp with lots of active carbonation. The finish lacks bitterness but is filled with tart dryness as any residual sweetness just disappears.

Drinkability: Once readjusted to what to expect of a Berliner Weisse (I've not had a true example of the style in several years) the quality and subtlety of this beer become clear. It is quite easy to sip my way through this beer. It would be good to have a second, and I won't hesitate to have this beer again when I have the chance.

this is a hard beer to review because it is art in a different kind of way than most of the beers we try and review on here. the art here is replicating a process and evoking a sense of place and time for the sake of art, enjoyment and education. if we don't know where styles come from, we don't know where to go with them. dr. fritz gives us the foundation of a style that was almost lost to the tee and it is awesome. pale golden with a white head that hangs out for a while, but doesn't leave much lace. nose is awesome. musty, mossy-wet-rock-in-a-cellar, wet animal, and a touch of citric acidity. the semi-spicy (yeasty) taste is way less tart than one might imagine from the nose, and everything seems just a touch subdued, but like i said, fritz isn't really trying to pull out the stops here, he's trying to school us and make us happy at the same time. ahhhh. this is why they called it the champagne of the north. the cellary, cobweb, musty wet-rockiness is very similar to real champagne. yum. i think i've gone on enough here. awesome beer. know your beery roots. cheers!